BCAT1 and central nervous system cancer: On the other hand, BCAT1 functions to catalyze α-ketoglutarate to glutamate within the cytosol.47,48 Preclinical work has demonstrated the feasibility of real time in vivo imaging of 2HG formation from glutamate using hyperpolarized14C MRI.49 While further study is needed to fully elucidate the details of glutamate metabolism, the decrease in glutamate in IDH-mutant gliomas may represent the consumption of glutamate as a primary carbon source for the 2HG oncometabolite production, or an attempt to restore α-ketoglutarate lost through the further conversion by IDH-mutant enzyme to 2HG.47,49